Worried about his belly button (pic included)

[MandyB]

For some reason I cannot for the life of me remember exactly what my other children's belly button's looked like right after the cord fell off, BUT I DO know they did not look like Evan's! To be honest I'm a little worried about it, and the midwives don't seem concerned so I'm looking for other opinions, advice, experiences to go off of.

After his birth, we put golden seal powder on his cord about 4-5 times a day, but the stump would not fall off. When he was two weeks old, we told the midwives this and they came over, twisted it a bit and it fell right off, BUT his belly button hadn't gone "in" at all. It's still "out" with sort of a gooey center. They said he might just have an "outie" and his muscles hadn't pulled inward or something.

They said for me to put some hydrogen peroxide in it, dry it, then a glob of neosporin. I've done this 1x a day for the last week, plus the golden seal powder a couple of times a day, plus a couple of days I just did NOTHING to see if that would help. Nothing has changed and it still has a yellow tinged "goo" in the center of his belly button.

I'm hesitant to take him to the Pedi because H1N1 seems to be running rampid here in our area, plus I haven't gotten his birth cert./ss# and all that taken care of yet to add him to the insurance.

What do you guys think? Should I be worried? Please look at the photo and tell me what you think (sorry it looks a little gross). Also, if you have a pic of your newborn's belly button after the cord stump has fallen off, could you post it here so I can remember what a NORMAL one looks like!? Thank you!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...r/DSC00224.jpg

[crazymom03]

My opinion only: it looks a little off. Is there a smell or discharge? If so it may have an infection but it doesn't look red. Hummm.... my kids didn't look like that but that may not mean anything, maybe it's just different.
Can you call your pedi office and maybe get some advice over the phone? If you decide to go in they might hold the bill till the ss# and insurace goes through. I hope it heals up soon! Good luck.

[pjs]

It looks different than what I remember. I'd call the ped and if they want you to come in perhaps you could get the first appt of the day (explain your concerns) or even ask for a home visit. I believe there is a way you can add your newborn to your insurance before you get his ssn- just call them and tell them it's been applied for- I think, at least here anyway, you only have 30 days to add them to your policy.

I'd get it checked out and probably refrain from the goldenseal powder as it doesn't seem to be doing anything.

[boobs4milk]

my insurance covers the babies for 30 days after the birth under my number to allow time to get all of that done. i applied for the cert and ss# on sept 18 and still haven't gotten anything.

as for his button, amelia's looked the same but her cord was ripped off during an i.v. stick when the nurses were holding her down. she was about a week old and that gooey stuff stuck around for about 4 days. her belly button is exactly the same shape as your baby's and i was told that it was just going to be an outie and it was genetic. all 4 of my others had innies so it does look a little weird.

[tayndrewsmama]

Hmmmmmmm, that does look odd to me too. I'd stop putting anything on it and have it looked at. Definitely a first appointment of the day too.

[MandyB]

Thank ladies! Well, I know something isn't right. It's the yellowish goo in the middle that's really freaking me out, more than the odd shape of his belly button. I just called the pediatrician's office and am waiting for them to call me back....we'll see how long THAT takes. The lady on the phone was really annoying and judgemental when she found out he was born at home. Ugh..not what I wanted to deal with today (judgemental people over the phone)...but that's okay. It would be nice if I could just email a picture to the doctor, so he could give me his opinion on whether he needs to be seen or not, but it's impossible to actually get ahold of the doctor there!

[tayndrewsmama]

Oh geeze. What ever it is that is or isn't wrong with it doesn't have a darn thing to do with where he was born. Does she think you cut the cord with a rusty scissors dipped in sewage or what? I'd complain about that after you have this issue figured out. That was completely uncalled for.

[Leilamus]

Originally Posted by tayndrewsmama

Oh geeze. What ever it is that is or isn't wrong with it doesn't have a darn thing to do with where he was born. Does she think you cut the cord with a rusty scissors dipped in sewage or what? I'd complain about that after you have this issue figured out. That was completely uncalled for.

: Hope you hear back soon!!!

[Harmony96]

I had to open this and look at the picture, b/c my DS's belly button scab came off in a similar manner... I was holding the "dry" part and pulling out on it to clean under it, and it was only being held on by a thread, and I accidentally pulled it off. That was on the 21st. Even today, it's still oozy and slightly bloody (I'll notice a little blood on his diaper sometimes when I change him). I've asked both our pedi and our MW about it and both of them say that it's normal. But the only thing I've been putting on it is alcohol, maybe once or twice a day.

Right after his cord was cut, there was a "tube" of skin sticking out about a cm from his belly. DD's belly button was NOT like that at all and I was nervous that DS would have this massive outie, but that weird tube has shrunk now and it looks like he'll have an innie.

Originally Posted by boobs4milk

my insurance covers the babies for 30 days after the birth under my number to allow time to get all of that done.

This is what my pedi office told me, too. I called our insurance and got a new enrollment card and filled it out and sent it back in, but of course I only had Benjamin's birthday on it and not his birth cert or SSN. They sent us a letter back saying that any insurance claims wouldn't be paid until they get those other two documents. So I asked my pedi's office about that and they said that newborns are covered for 30 days under the parents' policy.

[fyrebloom]

The shape is fine, looks like there might be a bit more cord in there but it'll be ok once its completely healed. Most likely will be an outie. All my kids have looked like that. The yellow stuff needs to be brought to your pedi's attention. I think that might be a granuloma and it might need a little silver nitrate to seal it up. Not a huge big deal but you don't want it getting infected, kwim? I hate the cord stuff, my kids all took forever to lose theirs and they all had trouble with them after. DS1 needed a couple of bouts of silver nitrate to seal it up because nothing I did made it better.

[dachshundqueen]

DDC crashing.

My DS had that yellow pus coming out, and a bit of blood. I went to our pedi and she did silver nitrite IRC.

Liz

[dollysods]

agree with previous post. it looks fine/ not infected from the picture-just an umbilical granuloma. silver nitrate dipped on a q tip (the peds office can do it for you and give you more to apply at home) should suffice.

[Pandme]

Any updates on how it's doing?

[bajamergrrl]

DDC crashing -

My DS's bellybutton had that gooey center too after his cord stump fell off. I just tried to keep it dry (although I did clean it out with a q-tip). It healed on it's own. Neither my midwife or DS's HCP were too concerned about it. If it starts to smell funny or turn red then it may be infected.

Also, DS has an umbilical hernia so his bellybutton was more of an outie than normal. Umbilical hernias will generally close up on their own over time.